ZB EKISTAN
Pakistan's
Great Divide
The rise and ruin of empires
Indus, Aryan, Persian, Mogul,
British-are written in the soil
of Pakistan, which was founded
as a Muslim homeland in 1947
with the partition of India.
Pakistan's borders encompass
five major ethnic groups and
two distinct geographies. A
"fault line" down the middle
.of the country mirrors a reli
gious divide as well: Where
the mountains meet the low
lands, the fierce fundamental
ism of the Afghan frontier
confronts the moderate Islam
of the Indian subcontinent.
CHINA
Boundary
claimed
-
by Pakistan
44s
AFGHANISTAN
Line of cntrol
Khyber Pass
3,500 ft
1.,067 m
FEDERALLY
ADMINISTERED
TRIBAL AREAS
Durand Line
(present-day
boundary)
S
INDIA
)
teofF
nuclear
BANGL
r~
.
I
kana
SI
V
V Nuclear reactor
Omi
100
I ,II
I
0km
100
RELIEFBYTIBORG. TOTH
NGMMAPS
tars of Turmoil
1971 Pakistan
loses more than
half its popula
tion when East
Pakistan (renamed
Bangladesh)
declares its inde
pendence, trigger
ing a war between
its ally, India,
and Pakistan.
1979 After the
U.S .S .R . invades
Afghanistan, the
U.S . and Pakistan
join to support
an insurgency
of Afghan and
Pakistani jihadists.
Pakistan's leader,
General Zia-ul
Haq, pushes an
Islamic fundamen
talist agenda.
1998 Directed by
scientist A. Q .
Khan, Pakistan
conducts several
nuclear tests to
counter India's
arsenal. Secretly,
Khan is selling
nuclear hardware
and know-how to
Iran, Libya, and
North Korea.
11
2007 Prot
resident
sparked he
Hervez iviusnarn
who seized
power in 1999,
drops support
of the Taliban
in Afghanistan
and allies with
the U.S. in a
"war on terror."
Musnarrat sI
ers and oppi
groups callir
for a return
democratic
IRAN
ilia, a
ie British
gains its
ndence and
tioned into
id Pakistan,
n for Mus
the chaotic
ath,uptoa
people die.